Grattan: Game on in Canberra

Senior ministers have held secret discussions to reassure themselves that Julia Gillard still has majority support, while rebel caucus members have drafted a petition in a bid to force a leadership spill next week.

The petition, yet to be circulated, needs a minimum 35 signatures to force a spill should the impasse between Ms Gillard and Kevin Rudd not be broken before Parliament resumes on Monday.

The petition has been organised by MPs from Ms Gillard's faction, the Victorian Left, which has deserted the Prime Minister. It is being led by Senator Gavin Marshall.

Illustration: Cathy Wilcox

Ms Gillard was confident yesterday that Mr Rudd remained well short of the numbers needed to depose her, a view formed following crisis discussions earlier yesterday in the ministerial wing of Parliament House.

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Sources told the Herald the discussions, involving senior ministers and advisers but not Ms Gillard, were held amid conflicting claims about the numbers.

Those in attendance, as well as some who phoned in, cross-referenced their intelligence on where various colleagues stood.

The meeting, a further sign that the Rudd threat is being taken seriously, concluded that Mr Rudd had fewer than 30 votes out of the 103-member caucus and Ms Gillard had about 60 solid votes.

The Rudd camp claims the Foreign Affairs Minister has a solid 40 votes.

If Ms Gillard does not call a ballot to resolve the issue, as some of her supporters are urging, the Rudd camp must gather a petition signed by a minimum of one-third of the caucus to force a spill. Mr Rudd is reluctant to call for a spill because he does not want to be seen as the aggressor and, so far, he does not have the numbers.

Launching the Gonski report into school funding yesterday, the Prime Minister indicated that she had no intention of making the first move.

''I've got the strong support of my colleagues and I'm getting on with the job of delivering the big changes and reforms the nation needs,'' she said. ''I'm getting on with my job. Kevin Rudd's getting on with his.''

Ms Gillard said that she planned no action against Mr Rudd, despite the cabinet minister and former Labor leader Simon Crean saying Mr Rudd should back off, pledge loyalty or be sacked. In a series of radio and TV interviews, Mr Crean went on the offensive, saying the issue had become a farce which must end.

He called Mr Rudd disloyal and accused him of orchestrating the campaign by his supporters to destabilise Ms Gillard and the government.

''Kevin hasn't got the numbers and he knows that. That's why he has got to go on some sort of public campaign,'' he said.

Ms Gillard must ''assert her authority'' and ''have an honest conversation with Kevin''.

If he did not pledge to be a team player, she should sack him from the ministry.

Mr Rudd, who is in Mexico for a G20 meeting, denied he was destabilising the Prime Minister.

''I am disappointed by his remarks because they are based on an untruth,'' he said. There was no challenge ''in prospect''.

Mr Rudd is not due home until Sunday but one of his most ardent backers suggested yesterday he cut his trip short and sort out the issue.

As well as damaging the government, the dispute is worrying the business sector and angering the Queensland Labor government, which is trying to fight an election campaign.

Meanwhile, a NSW MP, Deb O'Neill, told the Herald Ms Gillard had her full support.

''This isn't a game, it isn't a sport, it's about the fabric of our society,'' she said of politics. ''Labor is about fairness and that's what we should be focused on.''

One frustrated backbencher said the party was on a path to mutually assured destruction.

''The assessment out there is that Gillard can't win the next election,'' he said. ''Now we are burning our only option who might have a chance.''